AN: As a thank you for your overwhelming response on the first chapter, you get the second one early! A big thank you to all of you who have read, and especially those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited. A separate note here about style: I am aware that I can be pretty washy with my tenses and might flip back and forth on which ones I'm using. You can likely expect each chapter to start with some level of "past tense" to set up what is the 'now' of that chapter. If there is a beta reader out there who wants to go over my chapters to catch mistakes, let me know!
Rose had been right in that simply having Hermione, someone who Harry knew was going through the same experience as him, had decreased his anxiety about the situation considerably. This did not mean however, that he was not anxious, just simply less so than he would have been otherwise. Hermione and he had managed to secure a spot towards the front end of the second third of the train which they hoped would maximize their chances of meeting new friendly people without overwhelming either of them with the sheer number of people on the train. Hermione had made mention of the fact that Hogwarts had between three and six hundred students on average in the past fifty years, as the population of magical Britain tended to shrink rather than grow. Coupling that with the war and the casualties from it that ended roughly ten years ago, our group is not expected to be very large at all.
"That's a bit sad isn't it?" Harry says, seeming to be disheartened by that news, "Those people went through all that effort to end the war, and its effects are still being directly felt a decade later."
"It is," Hermione starts, "but it could have been far worse. Speaking of the war, you wouldn't happen to be the same Harry Potter who defeated… You-Know-Who would you?"
"Supposedly," Harry states. "I don't know anything about it, really. My parents died and then I spent the rest of my life in the norm- I mean, Muggle world. I didn't even know who they WERE until Hagrid told me a month ago."
"Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. That's not good at all. Well, we won't talk about that. Have you looked over any of the school material yet? I've done my best to memorize all the texts, I've even tried practicing a few spells. Would you like to see?" Hermione asks, thankfully changing the subject.
"I'd love to." Harry says genuinely. Beyond the pigtail Hagrid gave Dudley, seeing actual spells being done was something he hadn't experienced yet. "What are you going to do?"
"Well, your glasses are broken, I could fix them!" Hermione says, pulling what Harry assumes is her wand from a small bag around her shoulders.
"Go for it, the tape is kind of itchy anyway." Harry says, trying to encourage Hermione.
Her face drops into a look of fierce concentration, there is a brief wand flourish and then…
"Oculus Reparo"
From there, Harry can feel the metal of his glasses bend and stretch around them, as he notices just simply how broken they had been compared to when he had first received them. The Dursleys had never wanted to pay for them in the first place, but fear of reprisals from the school he had been sent to had them purchase them regardless. The frames bent themselves into the proper shape, and even the small scratches that plagued the surface of the glass had filled themselves in. Harry hadn't seen quite this well in years!
"Wow! That was amazing! Way to go Hermione!" Harry said, utterly amazed by his new friend.
Friend. That was a new word to Harry. He'd never had one of those before. Any attempt to make them had been thoroughly quashed under the non-insignificant weight of his cousin Dudley. Either by actively bullying people away from him, or by spreading rumors that he was psychotic, or a murderer, or other similarly nasty things. Here however, was his first chance to have one.
"Oh, well thanks, I'm glad I was able to fix them. Thanks for sitting with me too, I'm actually really nervous about all of this, but also really excited. I mean, I'm going to be a WITCH, I'll be casting spells and making potions, might even ride a broomstick! That last one seems really scary though." Hermione says fidgeting a bit with her hands.
"I saw some broomsticks while I was in Diagon Alley, I think it seems like it'd be pretty fun. Maybe if we do it together it'll be less scary?" Harry suggests.
"Just so long as you don't laugh at me when I do get scared." Hermione agrees, flashing a big smile. Harry briefly catches a glimpse that her front teeth are slightly "bucked" though not overly. Harry files this under 'Never to be brought up or discussed except for denials'.
"Just so long as you don't laugh when I inevitably mess up some spell and turn your hair blue. That already happened once! My aunt was so mad when she got the letter from my school about it." Harry laughs, while the punishment he had received from the Dursleys wasn't something he remembered fondly, seeing Old Ms. Jones try to figure out how he had managed to do so was rather amusing.
"Ooh! Mom had mentioned I had some accidental magic spells when I was younger too, apparently I liked to make toys from my toybox fly over to my bed because I was too lazy to walk over and get them." Hermione says, earning another round of laughter from both of them.
This surprisingly easy conversation between the pair went back and forth for roughly an hour before more students started to pour into the car. Harry asked Hermione nicely to not let anyone know that he was "Harry Potter '' and to simply let him try to make more friends as 'Harry' first. Hermione quickly agreed, happily noting to herself that Harry already considered her a friend.
The bustle of students coming in was quickly making both of the occupants of their compartment nervous. A few dozen students had passed by their compartment, a few who were even near their age, but none stopped in for a while; instead choosing to sit in already developed friend-groups. This however changed when three others their age popped in.
"Can we sit with you? We can't seem to find seats." One of the two girls in the group said. She had shoulder length wavy brown hair, and brown eyes.
"You're more than welcome, we were starting to get lonely here anyway. What are your names?" Hermione asks, gesturing to the open bench beside her, the two girls sit next to her, while the one boy sits with Harry.
"I'm Tracey Davis, I was supposed to be sitting with my friend Daphne Greengrass, but that jerk Malfoy kicked me out of that compartment." The girl who asked to join us says. Harry remembers meeting a Malfoy at Madam Malkin's Robe Shop. He didn't like the boy either.
"I'm Hannah Abbott," The other girl says. She has blonde hair done in pigtails, and brown eyes.
"Neville Longbottom," says the boy sitting next to Harry.
"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Harry." Hermione says, gesturing between herself and Harry. "We met on the platform, we both grew up in the Muggle world, and apparently the person who told Harry about being a wizard didn't mention how to get to the platform."
"Ooh, I bet that was scary. All three of us grew up in the magical world, so we knew all about it." Hannah says, wide-eyed.
"Do you three know each other well then?" Harry asks.
"Well, mine and Hannah's moms are part of the same 'Women's club', which mostly exists as a way for them to share gossip." Tracey says, "We also used to have playdates with Neville when we were younger whenever one of our parents had to talk to his grandmother."
"Yeah, Gran is the head of the Longbottom family at the moment, so she gets to deal with all the family business. Supposedly I'll start learning about that when I'm 14." Neville says; he seems somewhat unnerved by the statement.
"Ooh! That sounds exciting! What is your family business if I may ask? Both of my parents are dentists, but I was never really interested in following in their footsteps." Hermione says, looking at Neville with unbridled excitement.
"I don't know what a dentist is, but the family business that I'm talking about is political. Old families in the wizarding world do the voting for things like new laws and things. As the heir to the Longbottom name, I'll be required to take her place in the political sphere when I turn 17." Neville explains. Tracey and Hannah nod along.
"Hannah and I get to avoid that for the time being," Tracey starts "Our fathers still have control of our family names, and probably will when we come of age. If one of them dies before we're married however, we'll have to take the seat instead. If we're married and didn't keep our last names, then the seat will be either dead or dormant until we have a kid who can carry on that name."
"Well, my Uncle could carry it on, although he's unlikely to unless I make him." Hannah says.
"Wow, that's a lot of pressure on you guys isn't it? Having to worry about stuff like carrying on lines when you're this young?" Harry says, bewildered.
"It's nothing we haven't known about all our lives. It's one of the big reasons we're sent to Hogwarts after all." Tracey says.
"What else would you do for education?" Hermione asks, seemingly aghast at the thought of not going to a school.
"Well, private tutors are always available, all of us have a family member or close family friend who would be capable of teaching us the core subjects enough for us to get our O.W.L.s which is the most you NEED to be a member of our society. There are also other schools that just do day education and then send you home after, although I think the one here in the U.K. has been having enrollment issues recently and has been taking on some extra students from France, Belgium, and Spain." Hannah says, after a brief pause.
"Then why Hogwarts?" Harry asks
"Simple, we're expected to make friends with the elite, and likely find our future spouses." Tracey says, "Some of the pureblooded crowd like Malfoy are going to try and find other houses and make some betrothal contracts or something. That's almost certainly why he made Daphne sit with him. Not everyone still uses the contracts, they're a bit archaic, but the Malfoys have been trying to get Wizengamot seats for the past twenty or so years."
"Wizengamot?" Hermione asks, still trying to process the information dump.
"The voting seats for our legislative and judicial system, need to make a law or have a big criminal trial? Both go there. Having a seat there gives you real power in government. All three of our families have one." Tracey answers.
"So what about people like me? Muggleborns, how do they get their say?" Hermione asks.
"Well, they normally don't. Some of the 'Light' families have been pushing for them to have some level of representation although no one can agree about what it would look like. 'Light' families also tend to stop the anti-muggleborn legislations. Apparently, there's occasionally a bill that tries to either make muggleborns never be allowed to use magic, or to take them from their families to be raised as proper wizards. Not good stuff all around in my opinion." Tracey says, a bit of venom present at the end there. Hermione looks completely flabbergasted, and Harry is sure the confusion is prevalent on his face as well.
"Ugh, none of you guys happen to see a toad in here do you?" Neville asks, and the conversation pauses a beat.
"A toad?" Harry asks, doing a quick look around. "Not that I can see"
"Me neither." Hermione sounds off.
"Nope!" Hannah retorts.
"Chocolate Frog maybe, but no toads." Tracey chuckles to herself at her supposed joke. Harry doesn't get it.
"Oh no! Trevor! I know I've had him since we got on the train. Can you guys help me find him?" Neville asks, seemingly worried for his amphibious acquaintance.
"I'll help you look Neville." Harry says, standing up and doing a quick stretch.
"Me too" says Hermione, moving her book she'd been holding from her lap to sit on the seat next to her.
"We'll watch your stuff and keep an ear out for if anyone found a toad. Harry, why don't you take the back third of the train, Hermione the front and Neville the middle. Should increase your chances of finding him." Tracey says.
"Sounds like a plan. We'll meet back here in an hour or so, okay?" Harry says, looking to his compatriots. Four nods meet him, and he makes his way to the back third of the train.
Four compartments in, Harry met pay dirt. This compartment was lightly populated, consisting of only six occupants. Two of them were identical twin girls of Indian descent: one with her black hair loose and flowing, and the other who had it up in a high ponytail sitting on their side was also one girl of what appears to be Chinese descent with creamy pale skin and similarly dark hair done in two buns. The other three occupants were, per Harry's definition, far less exotic. One of them was a girl with golden blonde hair done in a long braid draped around one shoulder, the one sitting directly next to her was another blonde, although with a slightly rounder face, and hair unbraided. The final member of the cart was a brunette, who was currently reading a book.
"Excuse me, have any of you found a toad since you've been on the train?" Harry asks, gazing into the hands of the dark-haired Chinese girl, who was currently holding a particularly fat toad.
"Yes, we have, does Mr. Chanchu here have an owner?" The girl holding said toad asks.
"Yes, I've been helping him find him. He's a bit worried." Harry says.
"Oh, drat then. I had quite hoped I had made a friend. It'd be less lonely in the dorms with him around, although supposedly toads give you warts." She says, before handing the toad to Harry.
"Well, I'm sure your dorm mates will keep you company, supposedly Hogwarts: A History says that yearmates in the same house share dorms." Harry says, rattling off a piece of information Hermione had told him about the school.
"Yeah, I guess. Toad would've been cool though. Oh, I'm Su Li by the way!" She says giving a small wave.
"I'm Parvati Patil." The Indian girl with the ponytail says.
"I'm Padma Patil." Her twin with the untied hair says.
"Fay Dunbar," the braided blonde says.
"Lavender Brown!" The pigtailed blonde says excitedly.
"Oh, Mandy Brocklehurst." The brunette with the book says.
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry says before quickly realizing his mistake. He's trying to avoid people becoming friends with the 'Potter' instead of the 'Harry'.
"Ooh! You wouldn't be THAT Harry Potter would you? The one who defeated You-Know-Who?" Lavender asks, Harry can't really blame her but that doesn't mean he's overly happy about her bringing it up.
"Supposedly, I don't really know anything about it. I didn't even learn I was a wizard until a month ago." Harry says, trying to manage expectations.
"Oh! That'd be why I never got a reply to my letters. I sent you quite a few. I knew we'd be in school at the same time, so I wanted to be friends." Lavender says, looking kind of sheepish. Harry couldn't help but think this was kind of cute, and any anger he may have felt towards the girl went away in an instant.
"Sorry, didn't get any letters. If you still want to be friends though, we can try. I'm still getting used to this whole wizard thing, so I could use someone to help guide me through all of this." Harry says, trying his best to smile.
"Oh! Well I'm happy to help! My mom's a writer for the social column of the Daily Prophet, that's the biggest magical newspaper, so I know everybody." Lavender says smiling.
"That'll be great. Honestly, if any of you want to hang out at some point I'd like to make as many friends as I can. I already made one enemy, I don't really need more." Harry says, shrugging his shoulders.
"Ooh! Do tell, who has earned the ire of the boy who lived?" Lavender asks, a spark in her eyes.
"I had a bit of a disagreement with Draco Malfoy. He doesn't seem very nice." Harry says honestly. Enemy was probably an extreme word for Malfoy at this moment, but Harry simply didn't think he would get along with the boy very much at all.
"Unsurprising, no one in our age group is particularly fond of Draco. He's kind of a bully to all of us. The only ones who really hang out with him are Theodore Nott, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe. I guess there's also Pansy Parkinson, but she doesn't seem too excited by the prospect." Lavender says, counting off people on her fingers.
"You really do know everyone." Harry says, mildly amazed.
"Well, my parents sent me here to learn as much as I can, that includes who to watch out for in the next generation!" Lavender says, puffing her chest out in pride. "Like you, you're someone to watch out for, as is Neville Longbottom. You two, along with Draco and Theodore, are the heirs of some big named families. So, we're going to have to try and see what you plan on doing with that. Draco is already throwing his name around like it's hot stuff. Nott has entered the base-line landscape and is trying to make some alliances but is being more careful with it than Draco is. Then there's you and Neville, who haven't entered that conversation yet. Neville's grandmother has been keeping him more or less removed from that conversation up to this point, but he'll be starting soon. You on the other hand are a total enigma, no one is sure what you're going to do, it's really exciting." Lavender rattles off. Harry notices that she is really into this.
"Well, I don't know anything about any of that. I'm just Harry." Harry says, trying to process this information.
"We'll find something to help you deal. Now get that toad out of here! Who's is it anyway?" Lavender asks.
"Neville Longbottom, apparently this is a toad of status." The car laughs together, and Harry bids them farewell.
The trip back to his compartment is a confusing one for Harry. His family is a big deal? Politics? He really doesn't know what to think about any of it. He's not even a wizard yet. Maybe he can find someone at the school to point him in the right direction of where to start with this stuff.
Sitting back down, he sees that Tracey and Hannah are still in the compartment, and Neville and Hermione haven't returned yet. Harry puts the toad into the small cage that Neville had brought with him, that gave the toad's name: Trevor.
"Well, Neville will be glad you found him." Tracey says, watching Harry put the toad in the cage. "Now we'll just wait for them to return. Since you're back, can you watch the compartment for us? Hannah and I both need the bathroom, and you need to change into your robes anyway."
"Yeah, I can do that. If you walk by compartment 16 on your way to the restrooms, you should say hi. They're the ones who had Trevor, they seem nice." Harry says, beginning to dig through his trunk for his robes.
"Will do! Make sure you close the curtains when you start changing, don't want to give the other girls a show they didn't pay for!" Hannah says, forcing herself and Tracey to laugh at the joke. Harry's face flushes, and they giggle more.
"You're too easy to tease. See you in a bit." Tracey says and the pair leaves.
Harry is left alone in the compartment and starts changing, quickly throwing on his new uniform. It's less colorful than the ones the older students were wearing, although they all seemed to wear the same specific color schemes. Red and Gold? Green and Silver? Blue and Bronze? Yellow and Black? What do they mean? Harry is unsure, and his current isolation allows his anxieties to flow back into his mind. He is relieved though, when he hears a familiar voice.
"Oh, you found Neville's toad! Good job Harry. Where's Hannah and Tracey?" Hermione asks, looking for their missing friends.
"Went to the restroom. They had me change while they were gone. You probably should as well. I'll step outside and make sure Neville or someone else doesn't come in." Harry says, raising himself from his position on the floor. When did I end up there? Harry thought, having lost track of where he was in his brief anxiety attack.
"Oh, well that is a good idea. Thanks Harry." She flashes him a smile, her teeth are exceptionally white.
"You're welcome. Your teeth are pretty by the way. Very white." Harry says, words coming out before he can think to not say them. Hermione flushes deeply and Harry cuts his losses, moving to the hallway.
Harry hopes all of Hogwarts isn't as overwhelming as this train ride. His heart can't take it.
AN: See you all in Chapter 3: Showtime! Sorting! Which should release next Friday, December 10th 2021.